Kent State University

About: Kent State University is a education organization based out in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Liquid crystal & Population. The organization has 10897 authors who have published 24607 publications receiving 720309 citations. The organization is also known as: Kent State & KSU.

The 2008 Presidential Campaign: Political Cynicism in the Age of Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube

Abstract: Considerable research over the years has been devoted to ascertaining the impact of media use on political cynicism. The impact of the Internet has been difficult to assess because it is not a single monolithic medium. For example, the 2008 presidential campaign was the first presidential campaign in which popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube were widely available to voters. Therefore, the campaign offered the first opportunity to explore the influence of these social media on political cynicism. In this study, we examined whether the use of such social media influenced political cynicism. We also considered the influence of user background characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy, locus of control, political orientation, demographics, and influence of family and friends), motives for using social media for political information, and users’ elaboration on political content. Several individual differences were stronger predictors of political cynicism than was social media use...

FastBit: interactively searching massive data

Abstract: As scientific instruments and computer simulations produce more and more data, the task of locating the essential information to gain insight becomes increasingly difficult. FastBit is an efficient software tool to address this challenge. In this article, we present a summary of the key underlying technologies, namely bitmap compression, encoding, and binning. Together these techniques enable FastBit to answer structured (SQL) queries orders of magnitude faster than popular database systems. To illustrate how FastBit is used in applications, we present three examples involving a high-energy physics experiment, a combustion simulation, and an accelerator simulation. In each case, FastBit significantly reduces the response time and enables interactive exploration on terabytes of data.

Relationship Between Petrographic Characteristics, Engineering Index Properties, and Mechanical Properties of Selected Sandstones

Abstract: Six different sandstone units were studied to investigate and quantify the relationship between their mechanical properties (compressive strength, tensile strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio), petrographic characteristics, and engineering index properties. Sandstones investigated included the Sharon sandstone, the Juniata sandstone, the Morgantown-Grafton sandstone, and three Berea sandstone units. These sandstones were tested for percent absorption, density, slake durability, total pore volume, uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio. Petrographic characteristics studied included grain size, grain shape, grain sorting, packing density, packing proximity, degree of grain interlocking, and mineral composition. The data were analyzed statistically to determine the quantitative relationships between various properties. Results indicate that compressive strength, tensile strength, and Young's modulus values for the sandstones studied are closely related (r>0.7) to their density, percent absorption, total pore volume, and type of grain-to-grain contacts. Generally, sandstones with higher densities, lower percent absorption, lower total pore volume, and higher percentage of sutured contacts exhibited higher values of compressive strength, tensile strength, and Young's modulus. For Poisson's ratio, however, inverse relationships were observed with compressive strength and Young's modulus. Based on these results, equations were developed for predicting mechanical properties from values of density, percent absorption, total pore volume, and percent sutured contacts.

Neither chimpanzee nor human, Ardipithecus reveals the surprising ancestry of both

Abstract: Australopithecus fossils were regularly interpreted during the late 20th century in a framework that used living African apes, especially chimpanzees, as proxies for the immediate ancestors of the human clade. Such projection is now largely nullified by the discovery of Ardipithecus. In the context of accumulating evidence from genetics, developmental biology, anatomy, ecology, biogeography, and geology, Ardipithecus alters perspectives on how our earliest hominid ancestors—and our closest living relatives—evolved.

Late Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentation patterns in the western Arctic Ocean

Abstract: Sediment cores from the western Arctic Ocean obtained on the 2005 HOTRAX and some earlier expeditions have been analyzed to develop a stratigraphic correlation from the Alaskan Chukchi margin to the Northwind and Mendeleev–Alpha ridges. The correlation was primarily based on terrigenous sediment composition that is not affected by diagenetic processes as strongly as the biogenic component, and paleomagnetic inclination records. Chronostratigraphic control was provided by 14C dating and amino-acid racemization ages, as well as correlation to earlier established Arctic Ocean stratigraphies. Distribution of sedimentary units across the western Arctic indicates that sedimentation rates decrease from tens of centimeters per kyr on the Alaskan margin to a few centimeters on the southern ends of Northwind and Mendeleev ridges and just a few millimeters on the ridges in the interior of the Amerasia basin. This sedimentation pattern suggests that Late Quaternary sediment transport and deposition, except for turbidites at the basin bottom, were generally controlled by ice concentration (and thus melt-out rate) and transportation distance from sources, with local variances related to subsurface currents. In the long term, most sediment was probably delivered to the core sites by icebergs during glacial periods, with a significant contribution from sea ice. During glacial maxima very fine-grained sediment was deposited with sedimentation rates greatly reduced away from the margins to a hiatus of several kyr duration as shown for the Last Glacial Maximum. This sedimentary environment was possibly related to a very solid ice cover and reduced melt-out over a large part of the western Arctic Ocean.